Parshat Bo 5786
On Rosh Hashanah this year, the Jewish calendar year changed from 5785 to 5786 (Rosh Hashanah means the “head” or the “beginning” of the new year.) This number represents the years that have passed since man’s creation on the 1st…
I Want to be a Hacker Parshas Va’eira 5786
I want to become a hacker. Not because I want to ferret my way into your bank account and siphon your retirement funds. Not because I want to steal your Social Security number, open myself a bunch of credit cards,…
Parshas Vaera 5786
Vaera תשפ"ו In charging Moshe with his mission to take the Jewish people out of Egypt, Hashem told him (Exodus 4:17), (יז) וְאֶת הַמַּטֶּה הַזֶּה תִּקַּח בְּיָדֶךָ אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶׂה בּוֹ אֶת הָאֹתֹת. 17) “And this staff you shall take in…
Parshat Shemot 5786
Parshat Shemot תשפ"ו Last week we completed the first book of the Torah, Bereshit (Genesis); this week we begin the second book, Shemot (Exodus). In his preface to sefer Shemot, Nachmanides explains that Genesis is called the book of creation,…
Will you find the treasure? Parshas Vayechi 5786
When we think of the Spanish galleons roaming the high seas in the 1500 and 1600, bringing gold and treasure from the colonies back to Spain, and fending off pirates and privateers, we think of massive wooden ships, with multiple…
Parshas Vayechi 5786
Parshat Vayechi תשפ"ו I heard this lesson from my Rebbe, Harav Moshe Shapiro זצ"ל , who heard it from his Rebbe, Rav Elyiahu Dessler זצ"ל. Today is Rav Shapiro’s ninth yahrtzeit. This week’s portion, Vayechi, is the last chapter in…
Around, Around, Around you go! Parshas Vayigash 5786
Phil’s best friend in college was Jack. Jack Daniels that is. He would take Jack everywhere with him, in a natty little hip flask that Jack Daniels included in their holiday gift pack during Phil’s freshman year. By junior year,…
Parshas Vayigash 5786
Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had two consecutive baffling dreams, which even his wise men could not satisfactorily interpret.The situation, though, prompted Pharaoh’s butler, who had been in prison two years earlier with Yosef, to recall that Yosef had accurately…
My time in Maximum Security Prison…Parshas Mikeitz/Shabbos Chanukah
Yesterday, I was sent to prison. Not by the judicial system, but by the Aleph Institute, a phenomenal organization that looks after the spiritual and physical needs of a number of isolated populations, most notably: the incarcerated, the military, and…